Public must grasp the need for long-term saving to prepare for retirement

Good old-fashioned financial planning can close the pension gap.

7:00AM BST 03 Aug 2011

SIR – The report written by Lord McFall of Alcluith on pensions and retirement schemes highlighted no new information (report, August 1).

The pension “gap” between generations has been a problem for some time and is only going to get worse. As the report says, we are living longer, the cost of living is increasing and we have moved away from having a long-term view in this country, believing that the state will look after us.

This “gap” is also a political hot potato, because the cost of putting it right is beyond the means of most of us and any party looking to tackle it knows it will be a vote loser, owing to the cuts that would have to be made elsewhere.

The pensions industry has received a lot of bad publicity, mostly unjustified, leading to a lack of trust in the system. But now is the time to go back to basics and look at traditional, long-term pension planning rather than alternative options such as down-sizing property. Pension investments are the only investment vehicle where immediate tax relief is available to all investors.

Imposing minimum contributions will not solve the problem. This is an educational issue. The public has to get the message of how significant this is. Lord McFall’s report only confirms what we already know.

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SIR – Lord McFall was the chairman of the Treasury select committee for nine years. Where was all this indignation on behalf of pensioners when Gordon Brown laid waste to company schemes through tax and other company finance changes?

It is not surprising the numbers participating in such schemes have dropped. That most MPs have remained indifferent to this injustice may have something to do with their own gold-plated pensions remaining unscathed.

Peter Crawford Sheffield

SIR – The £5 billion a year Mr Brown lifted from pension funds after his raid on dividend relief in 1997 – to support his failing social programme – leaves an accumulated gap of £70-80 billion, which could have alleviated the problem now facing us.

Many people like me cannot afford to retire because our pensions are irreparably damaged, and so we do not move on to leave holes in the employment market for younger people.

Nick Hurst Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire

SIR – With inflation at nearly 5 per cent, a pension pot has to have around 7 per cent annual growth just to stand still.

Most funds will fail to achieve anything like that performance. What is the point of paying into a fund only to see hard-earned savings eaten away by inflation, poor investment performance and high fees?

William Rusbridge Tregony, Cornwall

Intervening in Syria

SIR – You point to the difficulties of intervention in Syria (Leading article, August 2) when we are embroiled in Libya, and the rest of the world appears indifferent to the fact that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, is gunning down his own people. And you note that both Russia and China maintain that the UN has no business interfering in other countries, “regardless of what excesses are being perpetrated”.

Perhaps, in view of their own “excesses” in the area of human rights, both Russia and China are anxious to avoid setting a precedent.

The sentiment is noble but the reality is different. In an ideal world, conservation officers would be experienced, open-minded and have a sound knowledge of building techniques.

My experience is that they are the opposite of this. Owners of listed buildings are faced with the perils of a system that allows an inordinate amount of power to be wielded in a subjective and, often, unsympathetic manner by conservation officials who may have read all the books and know the theory but seem woefully inadequate when it comes to understanding how older buildings function.

Catherine Lewis Ware, Hertfordshire

SIR – The policy of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings referred to by Clive Aslet (Comment, July 15), whereby additions to historic buildings are supposed to be “in the style of our time”, whatever that may be, was devised by William Morris with the best of intentions.

However, it has long since ceased to be helpful and has become a serious impediment to sympathetic contextual design, infecting local planners and English Heritage alike.

Roger White London SW12

Mothermorphosis

SIR – I knew I was turning into my mother (Letters, August 2) when I realised that I couldn’t leave the house without wearing my earrings. Later, it was confirmed when I admonished someone for moving the ornaments on my mantelpiece.

Val Rivers North Creake, Norfolk

SIR – When I opened the paper one morning and went straight to the death announcements.

Jenny Jones Penrith, Cumberland

SIR – My daughter will be like me when she sends her acerbic thoughts to the Telegraph instead of posting them on Facebook.

Eveleigh Moore Dutton Tarporley, Cheshire

SIR – A woman becomes her mother when she says to her husband: “No, I don’t want another drink – and nor do you.”

Simon Davey Grantham, Lincolnshire

SIR – She becomes her grandmother when she starts to say, in the latter part of July, “The nights are drawing in”.

Kath Bunch Oxford

Tax on septic tanks

SIR – Country dwellers with no access to public sewers have for years suffered the inconvenience of private drainage by septic tanks, etc. Now we are being told by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that we need a £125-a-year permit to use these systems, which have formerly been free, and must register by the year’s end or be fined up to £20,000.

It seems that George Osborne is searching for obscure ways to raise money. This measure is annoying and represents another attack on those who live in the country.

James Little Ropley, Hampshire

Protecting information

SIR – Your report (“Protests as inquiry into 'blagging’ case minister and his agent is dropped”, July 29) appeared to question my independence. In fact, my decision not to take further a complaint from a Labour MP about a Conservative minister was properly made and in full accordance with the legislation for which I am responsible.

As my response to the complaint made clear, the matters referred to me did not constitute “personal information… recorded in an electronic form or in a structured filing system”. As such, the Data Protection Act was never engaged, and there can therefore be no question of an “inquiry” being dropped.

Christopher Graham Information Commissioner Wilmslow, Cheshire

Beer boom

SIR – Richard Waldron (Letters, July 29) is right to blame beer duties for the all-time-low beer sales, but equally guilty are the greedy pubcos, which operate as property companies and have no interest in pubs.

Curiously, brewing in Britain is at an all-time high: there are some 800 breweries producing around 3,000 beers, many of which will feature at this week’s Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court.

Max Ingram Cénac-et-Saint-Julien, Dordogne, France

Migrant bins

SIR – You report (August 2) that six Vietnamese attempted to enter Britain by hiding in a lorry carrying plastic wheelie bins. Why are we importing wheelie bins? Can we not make our own?

David Parkes Hartford, Cheshire

Coaxing the reticent quail’s egg out of its shell

SIR – To prepare quails’ eggs (Letters, August 2), cover them in cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for one minute before running them under a cold tap.

When cool, roll them gently with your fingertips, breaking the shell into tiny fragments and loosening the membrane. The shell will then slip off in one piece, leaving you with a smooth, glossy egg to be dipped into celery salt or mayonnaise.

Jean Clark Eastbourne, East Sussex

SIR – Boil the eggs for five minutes and cover with white wine vinegar for an hour. The shells will disintegrate and slip off.

Jennifer Harper-Jones Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire

SIR – Don’t peel them! After you spend half the morning peeling the blighters they will go in five seconds, and you won’t get any.

Instead, make a magnificent display of in-shell boiled eggs. Your guests will say, “Oooh, lovely!”, but will find them nearly impossible to peel, especially if they are holding champagne. After the guests leave, the leftover eggs can be eaten for supper.

David George Cow Honeybourne, Worcestershire

SIR – Children are useful for small kitchen tasks like de-shelling quail eggs. This week my youngest has been removing the outer skin of broad beans, another tedious task.